The invention relates to an energy-storing container made of lightweight steel, in particular for motor vehicles, according to the preamble of claim 1.
Such containers store for example liquids such as gasoline, diesel, liquid gas or gaseous energy carriers such as hydrogen, have to meet high safety standards in particular during mobile use, for example in tank trucks, automobiles, ships but also as energy resource in satellites or space ships.
Although the invention is described in particular in the context of the field of energy-storing containers, the lightweight steel is not limited to this field but can of course also be used for other fields of application, for example in automobile construction, machine construction or steel construction.
Especially the hotly contested automobile market forces manufacturers to constantly seek solutions for lowering fleet consumption while at the same time maintaining the highest possible comfort and occupant safety. On one hand, the weight saving for all vehicle components plays an important role, on the other hand however, also properties of the individual components to passively increase safety of the passengers at high static and dynamic stresses during operation and in the case of a crash. Further, these containers often have a very complex structure in order to use the available installation space as efficiently as possible which increases the tank volume.
Energy-storing containers made of steel, for example tanks for motor vehicles are known inter alia from DE 10 2005 0 16 492 A1. In order to save weight, the containers are manufactured from steel with increased strength, so that the wall thickness can be reduced. In the here mentioned higher strength steel types, there is a risk, for example when storing hydrogen or hydrogen containing gases at low temperatures, of hydrogen-induced stress cracks or hydrogen embrittlement, which in case of a crash results in the risk that the container breaks and the leaking medium can cause significant damage.
The invention is based on the object to provide a light construction steel for use for energy-storing containers which in case of a crash has a high ductility and prevents hydrogen induced stress cracks or a hydrogen embrittlement of the component. This object is solved by a lightweight steel according to the main claim.